Gracie's Journey

We are sure that someone at some point truly loved little Grace. Unfortunately we do not know what happened in between then, and July 4th.
I brought her home from Wonderdog Rescue in San Francisco on a horribly hot day at the end of july. There was something about her, I can't really explain it. She had two tumors and was almost completely blind.

The first thing she did, when we got home was sniff around the back deck, and the next thing I knew, she slipped thru and fell 14 feet down to the ground, landing in a nice fresh pile of horse manure.....thank goodness! It cushioned her fall enough that nothing was damaged. Could not believe she survived that so we named her The Amazing Grace and got to work Gracie-proofing the deck! Whew!

In a house full of Boxers, Gracie fit right in. Playing Tug o war, finding the ball and zooming around the house. She got the lay of the land very quickly and can out manuever just about any dog!

Being a dog person for such a long time and having been down this road before, you would think that I would be calmly waiting while the DVM does the surgery.

NOT.
I am more nervous right now than I was before my OWN surgery!

That being said; Gracie's tumor had grown (new photos on her page) and the Vet decided to go ahead with the surgery even though we had not yet received enough in donations to cover it.

Dr. Basra from Rocklin Park Veterinary Hospital is one of the most caring DVM's I have ever encountered. Bless his heart!

The other angel in this story (besides Grace, herself!) Is Dr. Dawn Ellsworth DVM. She is one of my petsitting clients and now a very good friend. She is doing the pathology on the tumors herself without a charge. Grace has a wonderful support network, don't you think???

I am waiting for the phone to ring, so I can drive down to pick up Grace and her tumors in jar......ring, phone, ring!!!!!!

Please send Grace your positive thoughts. We all love her and want her to be cancer-free.
Thank you!

Gracie is doing fabulous! Curled up in her fleece blankie on the bed. All of her boxer brothers and sister are very concerned. She ate a nice warm breakfast of chicken, rice and oatmeal went outside and is back to chewing on a nylabone!!!
Dr. Basra is pretty sure he got each tumor completely out, poor little girl looks like "franken-puppy" with all of the staples!!!

Gracie's tumors were both malignant. The Vet is pretty sure he removed enough of the surrounding tissue that she does not need more surgery.

We are being conservative, for her sake. No Chemo, no prednisone. Just Love and green tea, vitamin C and Omega 6. We are watching her lymph nodes. We have sworn ourselves to providing Gracie the best quality of life possible.

Gracie should be a lesson in survival to us all. Her spirit and balanced energy is absolutely amazing. She is now sporting Pink, to support breast cancer survivors!!!! Thatta girl, Grace!

And the day I got these results? Miss Ashnola came into our lives........

Nola's page will be added soon. Gotta charge the batteries in the camera!!!!

Today Gracie's staples were removed. Her Vet was very happy with her recovery. However, he found another Mammory tumor that was not there before. We are going to have the tumor removed. Soon. Its the best we can do to help her maintain the quality of life that she deserves. I am feeling badly that whomever "owned" her before didn't do the right thing by her sooner. Poor Grace. She is such a life force in our home! Always happy and playful. Keep Grace Lynn in your thoughts.

Grace is one of my biggest heroes, and she is by far the smallest pup in our pack!
She is now completely blind, but does that slow her down? NO! Thankfully, she knows the lay of the land. There are times that closed doors get in her way, but it never bothers her. We did have a huge scare when she apparently pushed her way into a friends' dogs' space, and he bit her. She had three tooth holes in her darling face, lost too much blood, and I rushed her to the Vet's for fluids and antibiotics. The Vet was amazed. He also informed us that she was closer to 17 than to 10 years old. Wow.
We now "manage" playtime very carefully, and the pup that bit her does not live here, nor does he get any unsupervised time with her.
Grace makes her "rounds" around the front of our property every morning and every night. She has her routine and we just quietly watch. She can barely hear anymore either. She has her fave toy that she can sniff out and bring to me, I just don't throw it far! She and Nola sleep on our bed every night.
Graces quality of life is fantastic. We could not ask for more.
We watch the mammory tumor and moniter her health carefully but at this time we all agree that surgery is not an option. She barely has any hair on her body and the shaved area from her last surgery never grew back. She is border line hypo-thyroid, but meds made no difference so we chose to give her vitamins and not pursue the thyroid issue. Less is more at her age.
We have no idea how long Grace will stay here in our lives. The thought of her not being here makes me endlessly sad, so I remain grateful. Every day is a gift.
Go Gracie!

I know very well how it feels to miss a loved one. I, the Amazing Grace, was once lost. my family never found me, but I was rescued by WonderDog Rescue, and then found my home with my Mom in El Dorado, CA. My Mom and Dad loved me endlessly and they miss ME. This I know.

I want to help any lost pup. I've been Tagged. I don't participate in these things because I simply don't have much time. Please refer to Mica the Wonderdogs' diary for more information on Blue, and the info above for his own Dogster page.
Bring him home where he belongs.....